Price Range

lab

Symmetry

Polish

Fluorescence

Image

has pair

Whether you want to start working out, lose weight, quit smoking, or just want to take the first steps towards a heathier life, this is your place to swap tips, ideas and and generally find support towards reaching your healthy life goals!

This month's topic is what do you do to motivate other people to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Helping others can also help to keep you motivated and on track.

My mom joined 24 hour fitness last week so we went shopping yesterday to make sure she had all the proper exercise clothes and also got her a bathing suit so she can do water aerobics. When she invited me to lunch I told her I'd only meet her if she exercised on Friday and Saturday. I told her to look into guest passes so I can go with her and get her to try some classes. Also my dad comes over for Sunday dinner, so last week we decided to start walking after dinner. I have to walk a lot slower so he can keep up. So hopefully he will improve. I told him he needs to try to walk 2 nights during the week. We walked for 40 minutes tonight.

As of right now I don't have any lunch conflicts so I should be able to get in workouts everyday. Total Body tomorrow, Yoga Tuesday, my own workout on Wed, and my SLAM class on Thurs. Maybe I can squeeze in some evening walks too on Tues and Wed.

Thanks for the great opener, Appletini. I was going to post something if someone hadn't already.

My motivators are varied according to who I am with. A friend at work we encourage each other with lets go for a walk and if we buy something like candy we split it. At home we both try to eat healthy and have reasonable portions. I encourage my mom and sister to eat healthy and work out. Here or on Sparkpeople I try to sympathize and also offer tips and tricks that worked for me. I find trying to help motivate others helps me stay motivated.

We had a fun day. We went to Denver. Marty played golf with some friends and my sister and I went ring shopping (for her). She got a new wedding ring to have her original diamond mounted in. I told her I'd give her a tanzanite I've had for a few years to mount in her old wedding set. She like solitaires so she didn't try on every ring in the store like I would. I did try on that heart band with sapphires again and I do still love it. They did not have it in rubies. Rats. We went to supper with my sister's family then got home a little while ago I am really tired so I am off to get ready for bed.

SDL, yay for getting the itch to walk even though your husband can't go with you right now. The Charger's training camp sounds like a great deal of fun. I am sure you can hardly wait for your future upgrades. They sound lovely.

Helping others? Well, even though I am still working on my own habits, I try covert missions in my house. Cooking dinner-I am used to cooking by eye, but now I measure out the oils/sauce till it seems like the bare minimum for coverage without raising suspicion from DF. Sometimes this works, especially if I've only made enough for what is on our plates.

We also have two sets of plates-I try to serve things on the smaller set, so that the portion looks bigger. I pre-package left overs into individual servings and try to get DF to take them for lunch.

When I walk the long route to the further subway/less transfer I tell DF. 1) Because I'm proud of myself for having done it and I know he'll give me positive feedback and 2) because I always see a slight uptick in his aims for working out when he knows I am. We haven't gotten back into our rhythm of going to the park together to run/walk but we do invite the other here and there. We had a gorgeous Sat. which allowed for about a 3 mile walk. I did 3 miles on Friday as well-purposely left wallet at home, didn't realize I didn't have enough money on my metro card to get back! I'm conspiring against myself clearly.

Good evening everyone! I have to say that I have been lousy at motivating others lately. I got really aggravated with my ww group after our group fizzled. We kept it going for a year and I lost 65 lbs, and a few others had lost 30-40 lbs. Almost everyone in the group has gained everything they lost plus some and that has really demotivated me. How can you gain 40 lbs in 2 months? Anyway, I got tired of others hiding their fast food breakfasts, deep fried lunches and sugared coffees from me every time I came near. I know they're not happy with themselves either, but honestly I just want to tell them that I am accountable to myself and they have to learn to do the same. That sounds rude, but after a whole year of cheering everyone on - I'm just aggravated. I have maintained my current weight for 9 months and have developed pretty solid healthy eating and exercise habits I think...I hope... I did download The Spark for my kindle, so maybe I'll get my motivation back!

lisa - we have had to start crating Lily again during the day while we're at work. I feel really bad, but she was being a major stinker! She destroyed 2 rugs, and we discovered that she had chewed the rungs on every single kitchen chair. We're also having to do a little remedial house training. She goes in her crate while we're home sometimes, so I don't think she minds it too much.

apple - that's great that you're helping motivate your parents. I wish I lived close enough to take walks with my mom every day like I used to when I lived at home. Even when I was as far as 1/2 hr away, I would drive over after work and we'd walk. I miss that.

marcy - sounds like you had a fun day! When does your vacation start? If I don't get swamped this week, I plan to take off on Thursday to get a few things done before we fly to Seattle on Friday morning. I ordered a crossbody bag from Macy's for sightseeing that I think will work. I'm really kicking myself for not looking at the Coach outlet the last time I was there!

mayachel - I've been gradually cutting down on the oils and barely use any these days, and hubby hasn't said a word. I've also been pulling out the small plates, but he's on to me for that one!

sdl - I really wanted to buy an expensive pair of jeans when I reached my goal, but I needed so many things that I put the jeans on hold. I had to buy everything, right down to undies and shoes! Maybe this fall I'll try some things on. Those are really great pictures you posted. And a BGD upgrade is really something to look forward to!!

We just got back from walking. The humidity is at 94% and it is absolutely stifling outside. I'm hoping we get a little break from the heat next week in Seattle and Vancouver. We got home late so I made the old quick standby for dinner - spaghetti and salad, and I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I needed to do laundry tonight but I fell asleep on the couch instead. I have got to get to bed earlier! Have a great day tomorrow everyone!!

deegee, I'm so sad to hear that abour your WW group. They have to truly want to change for themselves and for the right reasons. Hopefully they'll come around sooner than later.

lliang, No PT sessions for awhile, I have fill up my heart card in the cafeteria again, but I think the lady gave me 3 punches yesterday so hopefully it will be full again in a few weeks so I get some sessions in before labor day weekend.

Deegee, it's good to know my dog isn't the only troublemaker out there. She's been pulling stuff off the counter tops including her entire bag of treats and then James's box of CEREAL!!! She thankfully didn't get into the cereal (it was Kashi) but I think it's best to crate her again to keep her out of trouble. James is a big softie so I think he won't be able to crate her, but I'm the last one to leave the house anyway. Sorry to hear about your WW group.

Apple, awesome the TBT class is going well. Hope you get another PT session, sounds like your heart points are piling up

Marcy, what a fun day in Denver! It's always fun to try on jewelry. Sounds like your sis is getting some great advice from you. Can we go shopping together too? I think jewelry shopping with you just sound super fun

SDL, great pictures!!! My cousin-in-law (cousins wife) went to UCSD so she said that they used to see the Chargers during training camp. She said it was weird because they had a non-existent football team but this PRISTINE field that the Chargers used to use for training. But after a while she stopped paying attention to them. She's not a big football fan.

Maychel, great job on the walks. Also really good idea to conspire against yourself. Sounds like you've got great support from your DH.

Today's a 7 miler. I'm going to try running again, see how my back likes it. Hopefully it'll be OK.

Hi everyone!If it’s clear tonight where you live try to get a little away from overhead lights and look for northern lights. We could be in a for a real treat tonight.SDL, I love your photos. How exciting! You are looking good too. That is a tough decision to go for all diamonds in your upgrade or have some sapphires. I love your sapphire ring.Deegee, I totally understand you want to tell people in your group they are responsible for themselves, well because they are. I am sure your bag from Macy’s will work great. I am certainly going to be a frequent visitor to the Coach outlet store when we venture to Colorado. We did have a fun time this weekend.Appletini, I am sure you’ll get your heart card filled up quickly.Lisa, I’d love to go jewelry shopping with you. Heck, if I could make a living at it; that would be my ideal job. When my niece was in college she’d have me find things for her sorority sisters when they were looking for something new and on a college budget. It was fun. Good luck with your back and running.Laters, Marcy

OMG it was humid hotness today! We did about 1/2 the mileage we were supposed to, only 3.5 instead of 7 miles. Aiyaiyai! It was hard!!!! I planned on making roast chicken, minestrone soup and maybe some pasta, but I forgot to put the chicken in before the run, so James and I just ate pizza. Tasty pizza. Mmmm.... I'll have to make the chicken tomorrow. My back was all better, didn't have any problems during my run. James hit a quick swim.

Marcy, my dream job would be the host of a travel show. Basically become a permanent tourist. But the down side would be I wouldn't have a kitchen to make food in. I guess i'd have to make friends and steal their kitchens

Deegee, whenever I go to a Coach outlet store, it's MADNESS!!! They do have some good deals and their stuff is so nice!!! Have you found any fun things to do with your now "permanently" straight hair?

It's August already, really!?!Hi ya'll! Things are finally settling down for me, yay! We CLOSED on our new house on Friday, and moved the same day! My arms are still sore. My old landlord was showing our apt. Sat. morning, and we had someone e-mail us about the apt that's already seen it. I haven't heard from him in a couple days, but hopefully he's rented our apt.

Or house is so awesome! It's feels great to be moved and somewhat settled in our new home. We still have a lot of work to do/things to buy, but so far so good!

I ran on Thursday, and I didn't get a chance to run until today. Oof. I ran 4 miles today and it felt good. My eats have been so-so, but I had a good dinner of tilapia and some steamed broccoli.

Lisa- I'm so glad I don't have to run in humidity anymore! I feel your pain; WV was brutal when it came to humidity. When I do my LR's I actually get a salty face because my sweat just dries, and there is no moisture in the air to keep you just a sweaty mess. Did you hurt your back? I think I missed that.

Marcy- It seems like you are in Denver a lot. Where are you favorite places to go? And where is the Coach outlet? Did you get to see the northern lights? I live 3 miles from the city; no way I can see em. Boo.

deegee- Congrats to you that you've found the motivation to keep the weight off. How frustrating about your fellow WW though. Boo.

I did a two-a-day yesterday...yoga at lunch and then a 30 min walk/jog but my intervals were more walking than jogging (4 min walk/2 min jog) since its so hot. Today I'm planning to do Jillian's top to bottom routine during lunch and maybe another walk tonight.

beach runner,Congrats on the new house! Don't feel guilty about not exercising, I'm sure that moving and unpacking was a workout in itself.

Hey Everyone! I'm BAAACCCK! Hahaha. Sorry I was MIA for so long, but I just needed time to breathe and catch up. Our wedding was June 26th, and was absolutely amazing. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect event. I was so happy too that I hit my weight goal for the wedding on the day of the wedding!

Our wedding was at an old mansion on Milwaukee's East Side, and then the reception was at Historic Turner Hall Ballroom. I'll attach some pics of Kyle and I, and also our wedding party. I'll also try and throw one in of my insane rehearsal dinner dress that I had made for me and I giggle every time I see it. I loved it!

A week after our wedding I went on a 5 day motorcycle ride through Northern Wisconsin with my parents and 25 of their friends. They were all on Harley's and I was on a sportbike so I stood out a bit but we had a great time.

The day after I returned from the ride Kyle and I flew out to Vail, CO for our close friends wedding...then we extended the trip another week for our honeymoon so we lounged around, hiked, biked, etc.

After all of that over indulging and lazing around, I put on 4 pounds, 2 came off immediately and the other two have been sticking around but I think by the end of this week I'll be back at 160, then I can tackle my next 10lb goal set.

I've missed everyone dearly and I'm so excited to be back and to catch up with everyone!

I wanted to come by and wave at you guys. I am not quite ready to join back in here. I am going through a major rough spot... and especially this week, I am not very healthy. Mostly just surviving. but I miss you guys.

I don't know anyone that can live without a place of enchantment to turn to - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Pinki! Love the wedding pictures. You look STUNNING! Absolutely glamorous!!! Glad you had such a great time off. Your HM sounds fantastic!!!

Dragon, hugs friend!!! Hope you'll be back soon. We miss you. Dust to you so your days get better

SDL, Yowza! 80* that's a hot walk! I'm also jealous of your pool and relaxation time. YOu need to sit in a raft with a fruity drink in your hand for Maychel and me

Maychel, I'm like you, land-locked during the summer. Last summer my sister's building had a pool that I got to use. But she moved out. Sniff, no pool for Lisa...

Beach on your house!!! Yay!!! and moving and unpacking definitely counts as cross training! I didn't do anything to hurt my back, it just started hurting my last long run. So I took a few days off. It's much better now.

That's all for me tonight. Going to vacuum the rooms so I can shampoo them tomorrow. The dog's been peeing on them the past few days.

Hey ladies!I got 9m in this am; it felt good. We leave for Telluride, CO on Sunday so I'll run tomorrow (4m) and Saturday (LR-as many as I can, not to exceed 16). It's a busy next couple of days. I am going to get my car serviced tomorrow after work before our long road trip. We have friends coming in from Toronto that are also going to Telluride, so I'll pick them up and we'll eat at my hubby's restaurant Saturday evening. So, I guess I'll pack Friday.

I had tuna on a piece of bread for lunch, and tofu stir-fry for dinner. Yum.

Lisa- Our old apt. had carpet, and now we have all hardwood. I desperately want some area rugs. I love hardwoods, but one's home must have something soft. Our cat is going crazy; rubbing herself on our bath and kitchen rugs. Poor thing. Area rugs are $$ though. I am glad to hear your back is feeling better! That's a relief.

dragon- Hugs to you my dear. I hope you figure out what you need to figure out and can be happy with your decisions.

SDL- 80 degrees is rough. I had pretty mild temps this am; prob mid 70's. The sun is brutal though, and it definitely got hot. The pool sounds wonderful! Do you work in the evenings?

pinki- Thank you for sharing some photos! You looked gorgeous! I love the vintage look. We took a similar photo by a movie/theater sign, but ours was at night and didn't turn out that well. Let's see if I can dig it out... There we go. Yours look much better!

apple- Awesome job with two workouts! I tried to do yoga tonight, but our internet is slowing at our new home and it doesn't load video very well, and just kept buffering the yoga video. Ugh!

Last night I had every intention of coming home, making boneless pork chops, new potatoes and blanched broccoli but life had other plans for me. I kicked my dogs bone (a huge cow leg bone) and sliced the top of my toe and broke it. So after my time at Urgent Care I had a burrito supreme at Taco Bell. hahaha...I also missed out on Body pump this morning but my doctor said I can do it next week if I keep it to upper body and no cardio for a while which will totally suck.

Mayachel - thank you so much! I've been working for the last year for that waist! Hahaha...it used to all be the same size. I am a very curvy body style though, small waist, big hips.

Lliang_chi - Thank you! We wanted a very glam/vintage feel to our wedding, glad it was pulled off! Yes, we loved Vail, can't wait to go back! Hope all is well by you!

BeachRunner - I thought of you when we were in CO for our HM...not in a weird way, just in a "Hey! BeachRunner lives here" way. LOL. Thanks so much for sharing your photos! I love them! The black and white one looks awesome! Enjoy your mini vacay with your friends, safe travels!

Well I ended up not exercising yesterday, I had a lot of meetings so I decided to work through lunch to get caught up on everything else. I did however go to my SLAM class today and it was a really good class, I even had to wash my hair I was so sweaty. Since we had a small group he put us on the treadmill for awhile and we jogged for 5 minutes, and then did some things walking with the incline really steep. Some of the other exercises inthe workout room even including running squats...very ackward to say the least.

Yesterday I made chicken breasts, new potatoes and blanched broccoli. Started my Thank You Card writing adventure...not fun but needs to be done. This morning since I couldn't do cardio I did circuit weight training. I think by next week I should be able to at least do bike or elliptical with my mangled toe, but we'll see.

We leave this afternoon to go out of town for the weekend for a car show. It's called Dubs in the Valley, all volkswagons and BMW's. My hubby is a VW freak, he has 3 so it should be fun. Actually, I'm just looking forward to sitting by our car and reading while he does whatever it is he does with his buddies. LOL.

I hope everyone has a safe weekend!

Appletini - your SLAM class sounds interesting, never heard of it before. I'll have to google the details.

Maxxwell - glad to see you join!

SanDiegoLady - Congrats on the scale moving down for you! It's the best feeling ever isn't it? I hope you catch up on sleep this weekend - as I'm sure you know it's just as important for weightloss/healthy living as working out is.

Hi everyone! I’m back. We have been camping since Monday. We came back to town 3 days in a row then ran to another nearby city yesterday just to look around a few stores. It was a great week but we didn’t do much star gazing because it rained a lot. My eating was some good and some bad. I tried to be reasonable.

Our camping site can’t be beat. It is 35 minutes from home, out in the county, in a state park, we have access to a reserved site with no lights, locked gate and were there most of the week by ourselves. The best part is that it is all free. The site is a camp for scouts but they let our astronomy club use it too and we’ll help the scouts with their astronomy merit badges. About 20 scouts (with troop leaders and parents) were there last night and we had partly cloudy skies but still managed to show them quite a few things.

I got 3 books read while we were camping. We played games quite a bit, went for walks and just relaxed.

We got home this morning, unpacked, did laundry and I am now catching up on my emails.

Lisa, sorry to hear it is so hot and humid there. We have been in the 90’s but don’t have much humidity. Hosting a travel show would be a blast. They have a show on the Travel channel that sometimes shows them digging up gemstones. Yay for newly cleaned carpets.

Beach Runner, congratulations on your new home. Yes, we are in Denver a lot. We like to just go for a drive and shop too. We go to Cherry Creek Mall a lot and Flat Iron Mall occasionally. We like to eat at Pappadeaux, Bucc di Beppo, Macaroni Grill and of course try other new places. The best burger place we’ve found is the Cricket in Cherry Creek and we love breakfast at the Brown Palace. The Coach Outlet store is at the Outlets at Loveland exit (Hwy 34 off I-25). It’s probably about 40 miles from you. Have fun in Telluride.

San Diego Lady, it’s great to at least still have internet access on our phones. I used mine while we were camping. I hope your internet is up and running by now. Relaxing in pool sounds divine. Boo to working nights; Marty worked mids for awhile and it is rough. Congratulations for losing a pound this week.

Appletini, yay for getting in 2 workouts a day.

Pinki, congratulations on your wedding. You are such a lovely bride and your wedding looks lovely. Your trips sound fun. Vail is so pretty. Chicken sounds so good. It makes me sick when I eat it but I am craving it pretty bad. I might have a few bites soon but probably shouldn’t. Eat some for me. Have fun at the car show.

Mayachel, having a pool does sound fun.

Dragonfly, hugs to you. I hope your rough spot is soon a memory. We miss you.

We had a lazy morning then ran around this afternoon and ended up buying a few more things than what we planned. We went out to get a water filter for under the sink and a small digital camera for Marty to take to Hong Kong. We got them plus a bluray/DVD player and I got a Sony digital reader. I guess I want to make sure I am entertained while Marty is in Hong Kong. We have been using our PS3 as a bluray player but I don't quite know how to use it to play movies. This way we can get rid of our DVD player too.

I had to charge the digital reader for 4 hours but I did buy 5 books to read. I started "Shopaholic". It is pretty funny.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had friends over for dinner on Saturday so I started prepping on Friday and made the creme brulee, one of the steps was to let everything sit for 30 minutes so I used that time to do a walk/jog around the neighborhood. Saturday I took the day off and yesterday I did some swimming exercise at the pool.

Good afternoon. I got up at 1:45 am - yes this morning - and we were in the car by 2:30 am. Marty drove to the airport and I drove myself home. I got home about 6 am. I called in sick to work and went back to bed. I slept about 3 more hours then got up and worked on a few things around the house. I met a friend for lunch then went to visit another one in hospice. He was told he has 2 weeks to 2 months left to live. He started out with liver cancer about 7.5 years ago and was holding his own with chemo until they had to remove his gallbladder a year ago and opening him up seems to have spread the cancer through his system. He is so yellow and swollen; he didn't look good but he seems to be in good spirits. I took him the Micheal Crichton book I just finished and he seemed eager to read it.

I stopped and picked up some food for me for the week. Marty is going to be in Hong Kong for 2 weeks so I can eat cheaply anyway.

I had a tough Total Body class yesterday, he had us do lots of high stepping and my hip flexors are sore today. I went for a 40 min walk this evening and made sure that I picked up my pace. I've gained 2 lbs over the last two weeks b/c I haven't been very good with my eating, so I know I need to work on that.

I was out of town for a wedding, one of James's friends. It was pretty nice. It was in Providence, RI. That was the first time I'd been to RI. I managed a 10 mile run in decent weather, and it was even a little hilly. The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. Not very good on the eats, but the 10 mile run helped I think. Monday when we got back James and I went over to Sis's house and she and her boyfriend made ribs, potato salad and we had a corn-off. Between WI and MI corn. The WI corn won (for those cheeseheads out there. Sorry Mitten folks).

Today sis and i did our 7 mile run. My back was cranky today, i felt it going up and down stairs. The run it was definitely cranky. Sis was like, "Maybe James can give you a back rub." I was like "HA!!!! That's just as likely to happen if I asked Quizas (the dog)." So I'm doing a heat pad. Hopefully it'll help. We're planning on another 7 miles tomorrow.

SDL, glad you found a yummy Atkins friendly snack. I believe once you find the snacks that "do it" for you, it's easy to avoid the bad for you snacks. Glad you have one that "does it" for you.

Pinki, hope you had a good time at the car show. Sis's boyfriend is a big car guy. I don't get it. four wheels, horn, goes place. Maybe it's just me...

Marcy, your camping trip sounds AWESOME! I'm glad you had a nice time. Sounds like you and Marty really needed the R&R, so I'm glad you got it.

San Diego Lady, I always found when I wasn't losing weight I was losing inches and that is always a good thing too. You'll see that scale move again. Happy Anniversary next week. How many years will you be celebrating? Rats for losing your post. I think seeing the Queen Mary would be really fun. $900 is pretty crazy. We stayed at the Brown Palace in Denver one time and we were upgraded to a Suite that is about that a night. Boy was it nice. It raised the bar for my expectations all right; too bad I can't afford to stay in places like that.

Appletini, I am sure those 2 pounds will come right back off. I made cookies for my office tomorrow and didn't even eat one. After being on vacation for 12 days I think I've splurged enough.

I kept busy this afternoon. I did some work on the astronomy club website and sent out an email asking people to sign up for an electronic newsletter. That will save me time and the club money. Sweet. I have the list down to 1/2 of what it was before already. Some were "volunteered" though because they are other organizations that don't pay dues anyway.

I can't believe I am still awake but I am fading fast. Marty's plane should be landing about 5 am my time so I will probably get a text or phone call bright and early. I looked at the airline's website and it shows the flight path. Wow! It flies up over Canada, Greenland, north of England then down over Russia and China. Aak! PS dust for his safe arrival.